


Broken Soul

by boltschick2612



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Off-Season, Phoenix Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-22
Updated: 2013-01-22
Packaged: 2017-11-26 10:29:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/649595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boltschick2612/pseuds/boltschick2612
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Mike Smith left the Tampa Bay Lightning to play for the Phoenix Coyotes, he left behind a very depressed Ryan Malone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Broken Soul

**Author's Note:**

> Written December of 2011, takes place during the 2011 off-season.

 

Ryan stood in the kitchen of his Tampa home, looking out onto the empty living room. The room was dim, the lights out, and the setting sun was casting elongated shadows through the windows. He had never felt so alone and empty inside as he did at this moment. His wife and two children were visiting her parents in Pittsburgh, and they had been gone almost a week.

It wouldn't have mattered if they were around because even when they were, Ryan was still consumed with the feeling of loneliness, feelings of something missing. But at least when they were there the house wasn't as empty and the feelings of emptiness weren't as stabbing. There were some days when his love for his children and their exuberant joy was all that kept him going.

What exacerbated things was the fact that it was All-Star Weekend. On normal weeks, Ryan's days would be filled with practices, his nights filled with games. The constant pace of always practicing, always playing, made it easy for him to forget the feelings of despair that blanketed his heart. He got no such reprieve this week. He had spent nearly the entire time in his house, sheltered away from the world.

It used to be that you couldn't pry the smile from his face, but now that couldn't he further from the truth. Things had been bad for him lately, and it seemed like it started the day that half of his soul left for Phoenix.  He had been standing in his kitchen so long that the dim room was now pitch black, the elongated shadows and setting sun now completely gone.

A small light broke through the darkness. It was coming from the display on Ryan's cell phone that was sitting on the counter top, and it was indicating an incoming call. Ryan had the phone resting next to his hand because just a few moments earlier he was considering using it to make a call. To call  _him_. To tell  _him_  all the things that had been going through his mind the past 6 months.

But Ryan knew that he could never let Mike Smith, or anyone else for that matter, know the dark thoughts that festered in his mind. Mike would call him a selfish coward if he knew the thoughts that were hiding in the in the dark corners of Ryan's mind. The small light on Ryan's cell phone display was still piercing through the darkness of the room, and it pulled him from his thoughts.

He reached down and answered it, not bothering to look at the caller ID. He figured it was probably Abby calling so that his children could say 'Goodnight' to him before bed.

"Hey Abbs, How's the trip?"

_"Not your wife, but I could pretend."_

For a minute, Ryan wondered if he was imagining the fact that Mike was on the other end of the line. "Mike...is that really you?"

_"Yeah...why do you sound so down? Is something the matter?"_

"No....I mean...Yes. I was just thinking about you. How much I missed you."

_"Me too. How are you? How's the kids?"_

"Good. Everyone's good." 

Ryan seriously thought about adding "Except me" to the end of his last sentence, but instead he just said "Abby took the kids to Pittsburgh for a week. Speaking of kids, how's yours? How's Aksel?"

_"He was sick all this week. Bri and I were a little worried, but it turns out it was just a cold. He's a lot better now."_

"Well, tell him Uncle Ryan is glad he's better. What about you? How are you?"

_"Good. Miss you. Can't believe we don't play each other any more this year"_

From the second that Ryan heard Mike's voice, he forgot everything about hockey and the NHL. Mike's last comment brought him back to reality.

"Speaking of, Congrats on how well you've been doing there. I'm happy for you." Ryan was at least partially telling the truth. Mike's happiness made him happy, but he selfishly wished that Mike was back here in Tampa, even if that meant being relegated to back-up goalie.

_"Please, it's not me. It's the defense. You could put my son's stuffed bunny in the net and he'd be a good goalie too, as long as he had Keith Yandle in front of him. Bunny would probably have a better save percentage than me too!"_

"Mike, what have I told you about that?"

_"Don't disrespect the bunny?"_

The sounds of laughter came from Mike's end of the line. The laughter that Ryan was continuing to hear coming from the phone were drowned out momentarily by the sounds of a knock on the front door. Ryan immediately furrowed his eyebrows together in a look of confusion. Who was knocking on his front door at 11:35 at night? He supposed it might be someone from the team, as they were really the only people in knew in town anyways. But still, the question remained as to what they would be doing at his house at this hour.

"Hang on, Mike. Someone is at the door."

_"At this time of night? Must be one of the guys."_

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking."

Ryan was already walking to the front door with the phone still pressed to his ear when another knock sounding on the hard metal of the door. He opened the door and his mouth dropped open in shock as he was greeted by the sight of Mike Smith standing there.

_"Well, who was it?"_  Mike said and burst out in laughter while still holding the phone up to his ear, pretending to still be talking.

The next sound was that of Ryan's cell phone being dropped on the hard tile floor. The battery cover popped off and came to rest next to the duffle bag resting by Mike's feet. Ryan was still standing there, mouth open in shock when Mike bent down to retrieve this cell phone and battery case for him.

"You might need this. How else am I supposed to call you on lonely, cold nights in Phoenix?" Mike said while putting the phone back together and handed it to Ryan, who didn't move to take it.

"I can't believe this! You're really here!" Ryan said, and finally the trance he was in was broken. He lunged forward and grabbed Mike, embracing him. His hands came to rest on Mike's back and his chin rested on Mike's shoulder. He pulled back from the embrace and stood staring Mike in the eyes for almost a full minute. "If you only knew what hell I've been living in here, without you....." Ryan said on the verge of tears.

"Well, I'm here now and-" Mike started to say before his words were cut off by Ryan's lips touching his. Somewhere in the back of Ryan's mind, he was aware that he was standing in the front entrance way of his house while kissing his soul mate for all the world to see. And he didn't care. 

Ryan's gentle kiss turned into one of longing, one of hunger. He reached up and ran his hand through Mike's soft brown ringlets, relishing in the feeling of Mike's hair slipping through his fingers. He had forgotten how good it felt. Mike had also forgotten how good it felt to have Ryan's body pressed up against his. He circled his arms around Ryan and pulled him closer, the gap between them becoming non-existent. He raked his nails down Bugsy's back while his lips eagerly danced across his shoulder. Ryan's head was swimming and he was so intoxicated by the feeling of Mike's skin that it took him a while to form a coherent thought and put together that there was a lone duffle bag laying at Mike's feet.

"How long do I have you for?" Ryan asked, his heart racing.

"I have to go back tomorrow. I was actually going to come out here at the beginning of the week, but then Aksel got sick...." Mike was looking at the ground as he said this. Mike was hoping it would take a lot longer for the question of his stay, or lack thereof, to come up.

"You drove out here for  _one night_?" Ryan asked, eyes wide with disbelief.

"No, I flew. And you better believe that if I had the opportunity to come see you, I was going to take it," Mike said smiling.

"Well, then. We better stop wasting time."

Ryan grabbed the duffle bag off the floor and grabbed a hold of Mike by the elbow, pulling him in through the open doorway.  The front door shut behind them and didn't open again until later the next afternoon when Mike had to leave for the airport.


End file.
